Excite confirms Throw purchase

Excite confirmed that it has acquired
privately held Throw, which later this year will allow
it to join other Internet directories in offering an online community product.

Past regulatory filings by Excite referred to an acquisition of a small company that was not identified. Some analysts had speculated, however, that the company was Throw. An Excite spokeswoman confirmed today that it is in fact Throw, based in Seattle.

Such software typically includes features such as chat rooms, home pages,
and calendars for users. It is another product that Internet directories are adopting to round out their online offerings and become so-called portals.

Excite is the No. 2 Internet directory behind Yahoo. In February, Lycos said it agreed to buy Tripod for $58 million in stock, adding an online community to its Internet directory. Yahoo also owns a stake in GeoCities, another online community that is planning to go public.